Portsmouth enjoyed yet another excellent day of attendance from both NBA scouts and GMs and the local crowd (the evening session was especially packed), much more than we can remember from last year. Those who aren't here but are providing analysis based on boxscores should really bother coming out to watch the action for a day or two before they decide to write it off completely. It goes beyond saying that anyone who considers themselves an NBA draft expert that isn't here (George Rodecker of Hoopville.net excluded) should make an effort to attend such a large gathering of NBA personnel and college stars as Portsmouth. But to call this tournament irrelevant from afar is just not fair, especially when you forget to mention to your readers that you aren’t even here. If you're here and don't like what you see then that's fine, but to knock it without being here isn't fair to the players that attended or the people that organized the event. For the record, the talent level here is actually excellent, and there are at least a dozen players if not more that will get a chance to play in the NBA with just a little bit of luck that goes into the draft process. Last year only one player was drafted, but there are a half dozen players who are in the league right now. If you look at the years before, you find countless others. This year will be no different.

-DraftExpress has learned from NBA sources at Portsmouth that 7-foot Bradley center Patrick O'Bryant will be putting his name in the NBA Draft. O’Bryant will be testing the waters for now and not hire an agent, but this source mentioned that he is not considered a particularly enthusiastic college student and will be hiring an agent in the Tri-State area if he’s considered a lock for the 1st round.

-One intriguing international player who has been getting some nice buzz lately is Bosnian combo forward Mirza Teletovic of Oostende. Teletovic is leaning towards staying in Europe for another year to continue to develop his perimeter skills and according to sources will do it next year playing for one of the best talent developers in the world in the ACB league in Spain. He is close to signing so look for it to be announced soon.

Barea wasn’t quite as spectacular as he was in the first game, but still had himself another excellent showing and a near triple double that again had him mentioned by everyone in attendance as one of the top players in the camp so far. He looked for his offense a bit less and instead focused on continuing to show his excellent point guard skills, maybe to excess, finishing off the day with 12 assists, but being robbed of another 6-7 by teammates that could not finish shots he created for them. Barea again got to the basket almost whenever he pleased; using a wide variety of hesitation moves and head/body fakes complimented by his outstanding strength and tenacity. “He plays much bigger than his size” is something you hear people here saying about Barea again and again, and the way he finished around the hoop, rebounded with purpose, found the open man and defended backed this up. His excellent pressure defense on Chris Quinn made things very tough on him in setting up his offense, and when he decided to foul someone, he tried to take his entire arm off. Barea is leaving fewer and fewer people doubting that he’ll be able to make an NBA team with every game that goes by despite his size, and he remains a strong candidate for best overall player at the tournament so far. After watching him play here, there is little doubt that Barea could have been a star on any team or in any conference in America.

Justin Williams showed just how good his rebounding and shot-blocking instincts are in this monster of a game. Playing extremely active for every second he was on the floor, Williams was a constant factor on defense and the boards. Using his excellent length and athleticism, Williams blocked three shots and altered countless others. Even when he didn’t move to contest a shot, he managed to alter it with just his presence. The opposing team was very tentative in attacking the basket when he was around. Williams also showed amazing timing on his blocks, being patient to wait for the right opportunity and then quickly getting off the ground to extend for the rejection. He altered shots mostly on the weakside, where he is at his strongest, but also showed the ability to do so in man defense down low. Whether it’s when his man is coming at him or trying to fade away for a shot, Williams is a threat to get a piece of the ball.

Williams did have some problems on the defensive end, though, specifically up with his man in the post. His footwork at this stage is poor and with a very thin frame, he had problems maintaining position on his man. He’d often try to compensate for this by using his hands, putting open palms on his opponent, which is an obvious foul in the NBA, but wasn’t being called here. He really needs to develop his fundamentals defending in the post as well as add some more mass to his frame, allowing him to better maintain position.

Offensively, Williams didn’t show much aside from putbacks, but with his constant ferocity, he made a nice contribution here. His excellent timing was on display here once again, as he would jump over others or come from disadvantageous position to grab the rebound or tip in the putback. He got to the line a few times, and hit all four of his free throw attempts, even though he was a 55.8% FT shooter this year in college.

Williams needs to hit the weights and really bulk up, along with putting in some work to develop a mid-range jumper and improve his free-throw shooting. He also needs to improve his post defense, but this is something that would easily come from time spent with a good big man coach in the pros. Even with these notable flaws, Williams is able to make great contributions to the game, and should be able to get some rotational minutes wreaking havoc as soon as he gets in the league. If he keeps playing with this level of intensity and ability through the rest of pre-draft camps and workouts, Williams will get some heavy thought at the end of the first round.

Despite the seemingly paltry stats, have no mistake that Bobby Jones once again had himself a fantastic game and separated himself even further from the many swingman prospects like Denham Brown that were afraid of being exposed by attending the camp. “Out of all the players here, he’ll be drafted the highest,” were the words of one West Coast NBA General Manager in attendance.

Jones again managed to show numerous skills that most people had no idea he had in him from his time at Washington, not hesitating even one bit with the moves he executed, which is absolutely key for him. His coach Lorenzo Romar was in attendance to show him support, and was barraged by scouts (including us) who wondered where these skills were at UW. Jones didn't mind saying that they were there all along, but as a team player he did not mind taking a backseat to his talented teammates and doing the dirty work that was needed to be done.

Jones took his man off the dribble on a couple of occasions, showing nice ball-handling skills with his right hand (extremely important for him) and getting into the paint for one particularly impressive finish off the glass. A superb block on Kenny Adeleke in transition, which he pinned to the glass, showed off his excellent athletic ability, and even though his mechanics are poor and prevent him from getting a consistent release point, he yet again showed off his range from behind the arc. His passing and nose for the ball were on full display, but nothing was more impressive than the versatility he showed defensively in shutting down players from the 1-4 position. The work he did on Rashad Anderson was excellent in particular. Jones has excellent size, length and athleticism for his position, and his feel for the game, lockdown defensive ability and the fact that he doesn’t appear to be an offensive liability mean that he has an excellent chance to go fairly high in this draft. It’s just a shame that his team’s second loss means that he’s probably done for this tournament unless someone gets injured.

Anderson had a pretty similar outing to last night, again showing great confidence and ability in his perimeter shooting stroke. He made more of an effort to play defense, rebound and pass today which was good to see, and had a particularly impressive showing from mid-range both on the catch and shoot and off the dribble. Being defended by Bobby Jones is not a very fun experience as many West Coast swingman can probably attest, and he had a long drought in the middle of the game where he was very quiet for this reason exactly. Scouts are worried about his body a bit (he looks a bit out of shape), but everyone here absolutely loves his outside shooting ability.

Yemi Nicholson really built off his performance yesterday, making some adjustments and putting everything together for a very productive game. Offensively, Nicholson showed a nice variety of moves in the post and from mid-range. He made a nice turnaround jumper over the very lengthy Justin Williams, a very nice turnaround jump hook off the glass, a face-up mid-range jumper on the baseline, had a putback off an offensive rebound, and had a slam on the receiving end of an alley-oop. He also had a few nice moves that he wasn’t able to finish, including a spin move into a finger roll and a reverse lay-up off the glass. Nicholson especially showed his worth on this end of the court with his never-ending pursuit on the offensive boards. He constantly gravitated towards the action, always being around the ball and getting his hands on the ball. He had a staggering nine offensive rebounds on the night, to go along with quite a few more tipped balls.

On the defensive end, Nicholson showed off his weakside awareness with five blocks. He made most of the necessary rotations, then using his good timing and length to block shots in the lane from incoming guards. Nicholson had a mixed showing defending man-to-man in the post, having some trouble against Hartford’s Kenny Adeleke. There were occasions where Nicholson couldn’t stop Adeleke with the ball and others where he gave up deep position. He also did play very solid post defense on some possessions, forcing tough shots or making his opponent give up the ball. The biggest problem, though, is the fact that he reportedly only measured out at about 6-9 1/2.

Adeleke really showed off his offensive game today. While he hasn’t even attempted a face-up shot to date, there hasn’t been anyone more impressive in the paint then Kenny. Adeleke went up against Nicholson and Hicks today with little difficulty. His ability to remain composed under the hoop even when doubled is an impressive quality and he is able to finish nicely almost every time.

Adeleke isn’t particularly tall or explosive, but his footwork and touch around the hoop are better than any other big in Portsmouth. Adeleke uses his shoulders to initiate contact and pump-fakes to get throw off the shotblocking defenders. On a couple of possessions he switched hands to reverse the ball softly off the glass after getting sealed under the hoop by two defenders.

Defensively Adeleke has been extremely vocal with his teammates and has protected against dribble penetration well by communicating with the strong side wing. He has shown hustle and fight, often retrieving his own missed basket, diving on the floor for a loose ball, or keeping an offensive rebound alive on tips.

At his size it would serve him best to maximize his agility and drop some of the power bulk he carries right now, a la Udonis Haslem. Adeleke has shown good baseline skills, but his future lies in being more mobile in order to increase the speed in which he executes his moves. A face-up jumper would do wonders for his offensive game as it would allow him to set up a defender and create space for his post up moves.

Quinn took his heady play from the first evening and put it to even better use. Quinn plays a metered and professional floor game that balances both his own ability and that of his teammates. Very few of his passes that are intended for assists fail to be converted as Quinn has displayed an excellent awareness of his teammates abilities and “hot spots” on the court. It’s impressive to see a PG on a team just thrown together able to orchestrate the tempo and rhythm of the game with such effect.

Offensively, Quinn has shown a complete arsenal. He pulled up for effortless 3 pointers on several occasions and utilized the threat of the outside shot to stutter his way into the lane with excellent change of pace. Quinn showed no over reliance on either his left or right handed drives and withstood some heavy pressure defensively numerous times, always choosing when to relinquish the ball instead of being forced to give it up.

Quinn keeps his head up, is able to finish with floaters and quick pull up jumpers, and has both fundamental passing ability to go along with some flashier dime skills which he mixed in. Quinn’s production was extremely consistent throughout the game as he really let every play develop without needing to force the issue. A great example of his on court recognition was during a sequence when he drove into the lane for a leaner and got pinned by Justin Williams as he tried to release the ball. On the next possession Quinn drove in Williams' direction and drew the attention to himself before passing back against the grain of his drive to find the open man for the easy shot. When Williams got taken out, Quinn went right back to the floater again. To me, this sequence was an awesome display of recognizing the oppositions strengths and weaknesses as the game unfolded. Considering how little time these “teams” have played together, it was quite a showing.

Defensively, Quinn fought through his screens and was able to maintain his position, but a bit more “in your face” defensive pressure would be a welcome addition to his already solid two-way showing. I look forward to seeing him down in Orlando, when the competition level should increase. I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it.

Hicks came back in his second game and showed a lot more finish to go along with his fire. Hicks was extremely active on the offensive glass and if he hadn’t fumbled a few of his opportunities he would have been in double digits.

Hicks showed a nice touch on the 12-15ft jumper, hitting on a few uncontested looks from the perimeter. When he’s rushed his follow through is not what it needs to be though, so he will have to show a lot more before one could consider him an offensive threat. Still, the intensity he plays with inside is an intimidating factor and most of his opponents don’t want to get near him when he gathers for fear of getting smacked in the mouth.

Hicks’ hands have not been outstanding in the two games I’ve seen. This could be nerves, but he is flipping the ball at the rim on his post moves after initiating contact when in many instances a bit more patience would yield better results. His height makes it more difficult to play down low, but he is strong enough and uses his body well enough to create the separation he needs to finish, so there’s no reason for him to rush. His release points have been erratic and footwork is a bit suspect as he relies a great deal on correcting his body position in the air.

Defensively, Hicks had a number of good weakside blocks and one amazing series where he met Justin Williams at the point of release and brought him back down to earth with his otherworldly strength. But, Hicks didn’t stand out particularly in man defense nor was he extremely vocal in establishing some semblance of teamwork with his frontcourt mate. With his combination of size and quickness, Hicks could play up on larger opponents and really disrupt their setup on drives. This would also help him in denying the man his post position as Hicks could easily beat his man to the spot and once he there you can’t do much about it.

Overall, Hicks is a great physical specimen and has the type of athleticism that gets people’s attention. But, at 6’5”-6’6” he’ll need to really be willing to add elements to his game if he wants to carve out a niche for himself on the next level. Maximizing his defensive ability on the perimeter for the rest of his game would make him a much more valuable player. He’s a scrapper who could bring a ton of energy off the bench and disrupt the opposing team with hustle and explosive garbage cleanup if he applies himself that way on the court.

Rather than coming into this camp trying to prove to scouts that he can successfully play as a point guard, Gray has focused too much on scoring for himself, often taking dumb shots, dominating the ball, and forcing drives. He did have a few nice drive-and-dishes in this second game, showing nice passion and vision, but he rarely took on the mentality to use these skills as he should. He doesn’t think like a point guard, instead hoisting up shots out of the flow of his offense. Defensively, Gray showed the ability to play some strong man defense, but also spent many possessions playing too loose, not getting up on his man.

Brandon Bowman, 6’9, Small Forward, Georgetown

13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 6-8 FG, 1-2 FT

Joseph Treutlein

Brandon Bowman didn’t do much in this game, not moving much without the ball and usually overdribbling when he did have the ball. He would frequently look out of control when trying to drive to the basket, and if he got to the basket, would have trouble finishing. His ball-handling looked below average, which made him look uncomfortable when going to the hoop. He did hit a few spot-up long-range twos and was able to score on a few of his drives. He also padded his stats a bit in the final minutes, taking the ball to the hole once the game was over and the other team was clearly not caring. Defensively, Bowman looked very complacent, giving his man space and not putting in much effort.

Holiday Inn Portsmouth 93 - Norfolk Sports Club 89

Torin Francis, 6'11, Power Forward/Center, Notre Dame

11 points, 8 rebounds, 5-13 FG, 1-2 FT

Eric Weiss

Francis is still built like the Greek god he came to South Bend as. Unfortunately, injuries have taken their toll on his aggressiveness and have made him resemble more of a crumbling statue than the hero he once was thought to be.

Francis still has strong hands and excellent post footwork, his jumper is crisp and the rotation is sound. However, he will not initiate contact in the paint. At the first signs of body contact he either fades away or stays in place. Defensively, Francis didn’t put much body pressure against his man and was moved around frequently.

Still, Francis was able to hit the offensive glass and score some buckets purely off his god-given instincts and muscle memory of better days gone by. It’s sad to see a once promising athlete look crippled psychologically by an injury, but that is the best way I can describe how Francis looked on the court. He is tentative on the court. It seems as though he hesitates just at the moment his instincts are telling him to go after it with authority. I don’t know how much of his lack of physicality is mental and how much is physical, but he looks great so maybe he can regain some fire and be the player people once thought he might be.

Brunner is the prototypical “hustle” guy. Brunner doesn’t have tremendous foot speed and isn’t tall or explosive. What Brunner has is a high level of on-court intelligence and a decent skill set. Brunner can shoot out to 18ft without pressing much and his post moves are very sound. Brunner knows how to use his body to free up his shooting hand and displays good post footwork. There were a number of occasions where Brunner looked to be in trouble, only to roll quickly the other way and throw a shot fake up to get his defender to commit, then he’d go underneath and create contact for the foul. He set his opponents up so well that he got 10fts awarded to him in a tournament that is almost devoid of foul calls.

Defensively, Brunner has trouble guarding his man on the drive if the opponent has a decent enough jumper to keep Brunner close to him. But, Brunner uses his intelligence and voice to good effect when playing in the team concept, so he isn’t a total liability. Much of the shot blocking he did was afforded to him by out of control guards serving up weak drives into his wheel house, however he will hit back with his body and make sure the man knows he’s there on every possession. I was impressed with his overall game and while it might take a bit more to get drafted I’d expect an invite to summer league and possibly a training camp if he continues to show the versatility and BBIQ he did today.

In his first Portsmouth game, Sean Dockery has begun to prove just what he needed to, that he can play full-time point guard. As the game went on, Dockery looked more and more comfortable running his team’s offense. Offensively, he was definitely at his best in transition, running the break to perfection, making tons of passes that led directly to scores. In the halfcourt, he wasn’t as successful, making a few turnovers and not doing much to create for others by penetrating. He did do a good job feeding the post, though, and got quite a few scores of his own, hitting long-range shots, mid-range shots, and driving to the basket. Dockery showed some very advanced ball-handling, using it at times to make some streetball-style moves. These weren’t moves just for the sake of show, though. All of them had a purpose, whether it was to create for himself or a teammate, and all of them worked.

Defensively, Dockery never let up his intensity. He played from one end of the court to the other, constantly hounding his man by getting up on him and poking at the ball. Even when matched with a player considerably quicker than him in East Tennessee St.’s Tim Smith, Dockery used his length and footwork to stay in front of him.

There’s no doubt that Dockery can be an exceptional defender at the point guard position, but he still has to prove that he can consistently handle the point guard duties on the offensive side of the ball. Given the recent success of fellow unhyped Duke point guards Daniel Ewing and Chris Duhon, Dockery should definitely get some looks in the second round.

C.J. Watson, 6’2, Point Guard, Tennessee

17 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 8-11 FG, 1-2 FT

Joseph Treutlein

C.J. Watson had a decent game, showing a great shooting stroke but not much else. Watson hit five long two point jumpers, all of which were while standing on the three point line, and each one was in perfect form. There’s no doubt that he has NBA three-point range, he just needs to step back another two inches to use it. While Watson was drilling his outside shot, he wasn’t doing much to create for his teammates as a point guard should. In the halfcourt, when he brought the ball up the court, he’d often just dump it off and let someone else do the work, never driving and dishing or looking for seams in the defense. Watson did do some nice things in transition, though, finishing a few plays at the basket. Defensively, Watson had a solid game, not doing anything spectacular, but not anything significantly bad either. He stayed in front of his man for the most part, not giving up any easy baskets.

Smith is all style and very little substance. He has the type of speed and handle that can break down most NBA defenders, but he doesn’t use it for the betterment of the team. Defensively, Smith is quick and intense and he is very difficult to bring the ball up against. Unfortunately, Smith seems to get caught up in personal duels too easily as Sean Dockery was able to draw him into a battle that Smith just couldn’t win.

Smith came to the gym with a nice contingent of followers that were almost as brash as himself. Smith dribbled constantly during the first half of the game and used great change of direction and speed to basically accomplish nothing. He penetrated the lane beautifully but never chose the correct direction to go in order to create an easy basket for a teammate. His 9 listed assists are hard to fathom as it seemed he was closer to 9 turnovers to me.

Smith didn’t show any ability to shoot from any distance as he was the stereotypical modern young player, taking 2 3-point shots and nearly missing the rim on both while driving all the way into traffic and being devoured at the rim.

His best attribute by far was his defensive quickness and aggression. It will be good to see him against a higher level of competition in the upcoming games, but I think he can give any player fits with this skill alone.

What was most frustrating to see was not his lack of skill, but rather his complete lack of displaying any type of game recognition. He’s a very talented player, but he did nothing to really apply it to the context of the game. When he tried to embarrass Sean Dockery with an ankle breaking crossover the crowd went nuts….right before the step-back 3 that Dockery watched from one knee as it smacked off the side of the backboard. Dockery then got up and showed Smith what a real crossover move could be used for by breaking Smith off on the dribble and draining a quick release 3 of his own that touched nothing but net.

Smith will really show something if he can regather himself, shrink his head a bit, and utilize the raw ability he has to actually play basketball with his teammates and show what he’s capable of.

Horton had a very nice showing, perhaps better than the statline suggests, improving his stock for certain. Offensively he showed a semblance of every skill a point guard could need. He made some nice drives to the hole, drew fouls, penetrated to create for others, pulled up for mid-range jumpers, and showed off a very nice three-point stroke. His ball-handling was very solid, using both hands and an array of advanced moves to create. He also should’ve gotten more than only three assists, making quite a few passes that should’ve been for scores. He ran the break especially well, pushing forward and finding the open man with an easy shot opportunity. He did force the issue with his own shot a few times, taking a shot early in the clock before looking to create for others, but given no one on his offensively inept team could finish on any of his passes, I wouldn’t hold this against him very much.

Defensively, Horton played lockdown defense on pretty much whoever he was assigned to. Given, the point guards on the other team were not outstanding ball-handlers, he still did a tremendous job pressuring them and causing discomfort. He used his great hands to pick up a pair of steals, along with a few other deflected balls. He has great fundamentals on the defensive end, getting his center of gravity low, moving his feet, staying in front of his man, and using his excellent hands to pick at the ball. Horton also did a good job on the boards, going out of his way on a few occasions to grab a rebound, quietly picking up nine on the night. His aggressiveness was constant in every aspect of the game, including diving for loose balls, which he did a few times.

Horton showed the complete package at point guard, and with his decent size, he should get plenty of looks in the second round of this draft. He seems to have overcome the disciplinary problems that troubled him earlier in his collegiate career.

Steve Novak, 6’10, Small Forward, Marquette

11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist, 4-9 FG, 2-6 3P, 1-1 FT

Jonathan Givony

For a while it looked like Novak may have made a mistake in deciding to come out here, as his team absolutely refused to set a screen for him or do anything to help him utilize his phenomenal shooting ability. He was face-guarded by both David Noel and Marcellus Sommerville for the entire first half, and only managed to get up three shots, all of which were fiercely contested. Things looked especially bad when 6 foot George Mason shooting guard Tony Skinn was doing something resembling trying to play the point, but a small outburst in the 2nd half reminded us exactly how dangerous of a player Novak can be. His first basket, a three, naturally, came with 15:23 left to go in the 2nd half and the two teams deadlocked. His teammate Daniel Horton found him a minute later moving off the ball from 24 feet out and Novak caught and swished it perfectly to put his team up 6. A steal and a pass got him a layup plus the foul to make the lead 9, and his team never looked back from that point on. For good measure Novak swished another three just thirty seconds later to give him 11 points (his total for the entire game) in a matter of 2 minutes and 23 seconds, showing us exactly the way he can change a game in a matter of just a few minutes with his mere presence out on the floor. Novak didn’t have another screen set for him the entire game to help him get a semi-open look, but the damage he did was done already as his team cruised to a 5 point victory.

Kone was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise uninspiring final game of the evening. Kone showed good touch around the basket as well as a solid face-up shot from 12ft which made his offense stand out beyond the put-back jams that first awoke the crowd.

Kone has decent size for a PF but is more of a center in terms of defensive mobility and overall court game. He didn’t show any post moves down on the box, nor was he tremendously active defensively. But, at the end of the night the ball found him enough times to produce a decent stat line, so he must be doing something right.

What Kone is going to have to do is continue to show the ability to produce against some stiffer competition. He was clearly the only decent big in the game he played in, so it’s hard to really gauge what he can do.

David Noel had a solid, yet unspectacular debut at the PIT today, doing all the little things for his team as he has all year and helping them stay close in the game with his defensive play and timely scoring. Although he wasn’t credited with any made 3-pointers, Noel made one very nice mid-range shot and another long range attempt with his foot on the NBA 3-point line. He played very smart, efficient basketball, looking highly unselfish and being a superb teammate throughout the game. He showed his terrific athleticism with one very nice dunk attempt (which he was fouled on), and played outstanding defense on Steve Novak, holding him scoreless when he was asked to guard him. Noel didn’t do anything earth-shattering in this game to significantly help his stock, but he did give scouts a good taste of the type of player he is.

Marcellus Sommerville, 6’7, Small Forward, Bradley

4 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 block, 2 turnovers 2-13 FG, 0-2 FT

Joseph Treutlein

Marcellus Sommerville had a very tough time trying to make the transition from power forward to small forward. On the offensive end, he spent most of the game on the perimeter taking mid-range jumpers or trying to drive the ball to the hole. He didn’t have much success with either, bricking an assortment of two and three-point attempts and turning it over trying to drive. He did have one especially nice baseline drive, on which he went through three defenders to put in a reverse lay-up off the glass. Defensively, he did play some excellent prevent defense on Steve Novak for awhile, and had some nice blocks and alterations with help defense.